"France was and remains for Russia one of the main partners in the global politics and European affairs... The Russian-French relations enjoy a very high level of confidence and mutual understanding now. I link hope for their further strengthening with your election," the message reads in particular.
"I also hope that France will retain the role of a locomotive in development and strengthening of strategic partnership between Russia and the European Union, including in the light of your country's EU presidency in the second half of 2008," Putin said.
In a separate message to France's outgoing president Jacques Chirac, Putin highly assessed the atmosphere of friendship and trust between the two countries developed under Chirac's presidency.
"I am convinced that even after the election of the new French president, the Russian-French partnership will preserve its constructiveness and positive trend," he said.
Russian analysts said in post-election comments that Nicolas Sarkozy's victory in France's presidential polls Sunday is unlikely to influence the country's traditionally amicable relations with Russia, but they may lack warmth.
Conservative Sarkozy won 53% of the vote, against 47% for Socialist Segolene Royal.
Sarkozy, who served as finance and interior minister in Jacques Chirac's outgoing government, is an advocate of liberal economic reforms and tough policies on crime and immigration. He opposes further European Union expansion, but is a staunch champion of trans-Atlantic integration. His vision for France's policy regarding Russia is not immediately clear.
In an interview ahead of the May 6 runoff, Sarkozy said, "If you asked me which of the [two] countries France will have closer relations with - the United States or Russia, known to us for its Chechen war -'the U.S.' would be my answer."
Speaking to Europe 1 radio, he said that if elected France's next president, he would raise the issue with President Vladimir Putin, as "Russian democracy has progress to make."
The remarks alerted France watchers in Russia, making some predict a chill in the relations with the Kremlin, accused by human rights organizations of abuses in Chechnya, where Moscow has been intermittently waging a war against separatist militants since 1994.
Chirac has been friends with Putin, and both were allied in their opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
But Sarkozy, belonging to the same Conservative UMP party as Chirac, seeks to repair the trans-Atlantic rift caused by the Iraq war, and has already signaled to President George W. Bush that Washington could rely on the friendship of France.
In France, however, quite a few people seem concerned about where Sarkozy's tough style may leave them. His Socialist rival warned ahead of the runoff ballot that the 52-year-old hardliner would bring in a climate of brutality if elected.
Indeed, France's new leader has been hugely unpopular with North African immigrants since he ordered the violent suppression of riots in the fall of 2005 when serving as interior minister.
Following Sarkozy's election, youths from immigrant communities torched cars and clashed with police in protest.
